From the Illustrated Sayings of the HOLY FATHERS

By Monk John Vranos

That man who does not know what genuine prayer is, does damage to himself if he seeks after unceasing prayer. During the time of prayer, we must not form imaginary pictures with our minds. Let us imagine neither the figure of any Saint, nor any shape (such as the Cross), or some light, or anything else. It is necessary that our minds be empty and formless. Two things are indispensable for prayer to be genuine. First, we must.be1ieve that God hears us. Second, for us to pray well, we must understand the words of our prayer.

Imagination is the bridge of the demons, by which they jump into our soul. They present to our mind various imaginary images, and they poison us by the passions. For instance, they show us in our imagination that various acquaintances marvel at us because of some­thing important that we did or said. At the same time, they poison our soul with the passion of pride. Without attacking the imagination, the demons are not able to lead us astray. St. Nilus writes: Don’t fashion the Divine in yourself while praying; nor allow your mind to be imprinted with such an image, but harmoniously approach the immaterial in an immaterial manner. During the time of prayer it is forbidden us to imagine anything, even if it is something good. When, however, we study or work, it is very useful to think of scenes from the life of Christ, or other useful thoughts. These good thoughts don’t allow the demons to show us their own harmful images

If during the time of prayer an image of a face or some other form is fashioned in your mind, or even seen sensibly with your eyes, you must disdain them, because they are from the evil one.

The various “visionaries” and false “saints” who see Christ or the All-Holy Mother of God and the Saints are mocked and led astray by the demons.